The study deals with theoretical and practical aspects of Azerbaijan’s participation in regional integration processes. The historical excursus of formation of international cooperation of Azerbaijan ...with the countries of CIS region and key economic partners in the world is considered. Azerbaijan’s economic interaction with the EAEU countries and possible potential of its development are analyzed. Based on the data of the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we have calculated the key indicators of Azerbaijan’s foreign trade with regional economic integration groupings and proposed their hierarchy. The study substantiates that there is a significant economic and socio-humanitarian potential of Azerbaijan’s attraction to the EAEU grouping. The possibilities of Azerbaijan’s integration interaction with the EAEU are objective in nature and are primarily related to its transport and geographical location, as well as to its production capabilities and the interaction of commodity markets. So far, the integration potential has not been fully realized, but there is a clear trend towards the rapprochement of Azerbaijan with the EAEU countries. Acceleration and deepening of the use of integration potential will depend on many factors, but first of all on geopolitical and socio-economic factors. The most realistic option for Azerbaijan’s integration into the EAEU grouping is the scenario of granting the country the status of an associate member followed by a deeper degree of economic integration.
Regionalization and participation at the integration associations represent a typical way of national economic development. To be inside an integration process allows member states to address better ...their socio-economic problems and political coordination. The stability and resilience of integration associations are critical to their success. In this optic the integration associations may be subjects convergence and divergence. These phenomena may be envisaged in the income inequality of the participating countries.
Aim
. To study the features and prospects of the socio-economic convergence within the EEU member states, the EEU strategic contour and within the main trends of integration processes in Eurasia.
Task
. The tasks are following. The first one is to study the sustainability of the EEU and within its strategic contours formed by agreements on free trade zones through the convergent and divergent trends assessment. The second task is to conduct a comparative analysis of Eurasian integration to the European Union and ASEAN development.
Methods
. Assess the level and dynamics of income inequality among the EEU states and samples of states with which the EEU has agreements on free trade zones, which are the CIS, Serbia, Vietnam, Iran and Singapore, as well as states with which such agreements are planned to be concluded in the near future. This list of the EEU’s prospect partners includes Egypt, Israel and India, based on the Gini index, using the European Union and ASEAN as reference parameters. Use calculations to interpret the processes of convergence and divergence of various types of integration processes.
Results
. The estimates showed, in general, a significant interpretive potential of the interstate Gini index. The study particular results demonstrated that the EEU has a level of convergence comparable to the level of the EU before the accession of a large array of states in 2004. The level of convergence of the CIS, estimated using the Gini index, is comparable to the current level of the European Union. It was also revealed that both in the EU and in the CIS, the reduction in inequality over the selected analysis interval does not have a clear prospect. Calculations also showed the convergence of states within the EEU and its strategic contours to be sensitive to external shocks, while the convergence of ASEAN states is more directed.
Conclusions
. The approach used by the authors to assess the convergence of integration processes based on the calculation of the interstate Gini index explains with sufficient completeness the reasons for the successful development of the EEU and its sustainability. At the same time, the use of the interstate Gini index for the analysis of convergence and divergence of integration processes made it possible to conclude that the integration models of the states of the Global North and the Global South are diverse.
Agroforestry Waste (AW) is seen as a carbon neutral resource. However, the poor quality of AW reduced its potential application value. Even more unfortunately, chlorine in AW led to the formation of ...organic pollutants such as dioxins under higher temperatures. Alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) in ash may deepen the reaction degree. Co-pretreatment of dry torrefaction and de-ashing followed by thermochemical conversion is a promising technology, which can improve raw material quality, inhibit the release of organic pollutants and transform AW into eco-friendly energy carriers. In order to better understand the process, theoretical basis such as the structural characteristics, thermal properties and separation methods of structural components of AW are described in detail. In addition, dry torrefaction related reactors, process parameters, kinetic analysis models as well as the evaluation methods of torrefaction degree and environmental impact are systematically reviewed. The problem of ash accumulation caused by dry torrefaction can be well solved by de-ashing pretreatment. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion on the role of the two- and three-stage conversion technologies around dry torrefacion, de-ashing pretreatment and thermochemical conversion in products quality enhancement. Finally, the existing technical challenges, including suppression of gaseous pollutant release, harmless treatment and reuse of torrefaction liquid product (TPL) and reduction of torrefaction operating costs, are summarized and evaluated. The future research directions, such as vitrification of the reused TPL (after de-ashing or acid catalysis) and integration of oxidative torrefaction with thermochemical conversion technologies, are proposed.
Display omitted
•Co-pretreatment of dry torrefaction and de-ashing can maximize the quality improvement of agroforestry waste.•Integration of co-pretreatment and thermochemical conversion is a promising technology.•Poor quality and inherent ash as problem factors in thermochemical conversion should be removed.•Agroforestry waste can be converted into eco-friendly energy carriers through integration technology.
The advantages and disadvantages of the participation of African countries in global integration processes are studied. It emphasizes the need for a balanced engagement that protects national ...interests and promotes sustainable development. The multifaceted nature of integration processes in Africa has been demonstrated. The potential of integration to promote Africa's socio-economic development was highlighted and the need for cooperation, dialogue and consensus building among all stakeholders was enshrined. It has been argued that African countries should prioritize integration efforts underpinned by strong institutional capacity, effective policies and private sector involvement.
The purpose of this article is to identify the key historical aspects of the formation of the teachings of religion within the Christian faith. In the course of the study, it is established that the ...church did not interfere with the existence of nation states, proclaiming the need for European unity. The conclusion of the manuscript argues for the church's (in its general sense) desire to subordinate political power in European states, which would serve to establish unified methods of government. The theological and canonical principles of Catholic religious doctrine provided the basis for such methods. The church's teachings became the basis for the formation of rules aimed at regulating relations in society in general, interpersonal relations and relations between the individual, the state and the church in particular. The article also examines and reveals the processes of integration of cultural studies in the environment, including science and art. The church actively finances various projects of preservation and restoration of historical art objects and promotes the development of new artistic directions. The church also actively promotes the development of science, primarily in the field of theology and philosophy. Such actions are quite valuable, because the church demonstrates adherence to its principles and values, thereby encouraging people to adhere to them as well. Such influence caused the integration and emergence of ideas of humanistic principles in the European consciousness. Moreover, the established canon law actively contributed to it. It became the basis for many branches of secular law.
The relevance of studying integration processes in the education system is determined by new requirements for the educational environment, which serve as the basis for the further development of the ...entire system of education. Optimization of integration processes in the education system is specified by their realization principles, which entail “controlled self-organization” of integrated structures in the interests of “the man, society, state”. The purpose of the study is to search for and to justify the methods and means of optimizing integration processes in the education system. The article defines a set of methodological principles. Implementation of this set of principles makes it possible to optimize the processes of integration of the educational subjects and the educational environment as a whole. It includes the systemic, integration, synergetic and acmeological approaches. The study specifies the content and peculiarities of these approaches, presents research data analysis in the context of the issues under discussion. One of the most important results of integration processes in the system of education is the development of the personality and of the person’s role in the “increase” of educational, and also social capital as a significant resource of social development.
Process digitization and integration is an increasing need for enterprises. At the same time, process platform-as-a-service (PPaaS) vendors (e.g., business process- or integration-as-a-service) and ...their customers strive to minimize the cost of operation of platforms and processes. While current PPaaS technology mainly runs in single-clouds, multicloud settings are gaining importance. However, their promised freedom of selecting the best option for a specific problem is currently not realized. Moreover, important cloud-aspects like security constraints are handled in a cost-intensive manner for PPaaS vendors (e.g., by isolating tenants at container level). This leads to security vs. costs goal conflicts, while costs remain intransparent to process modelers.
In this work, we propose a design-time placement method for processes in multiclouds that is cost-optimal for PPaaS problem sizes, and respects configurable security constraints of their customers. To make the solution tractable for larger, productive PPaaS processes deployments, it is relaxed by using a local search heuristic, and complemented by correctness-preserving model decomposition. This allows for a novel perspective on cost-aware process modeling from a process modeler’s perspective.
The multicloud process placement is evaluated on real-world integration processes with respect to cost- and runtime-efficiency, resulting in interesting trade-offs. The process modeler’s perspective is investigated based on a new cost-aware modeling process, featuring the interaction between the user and the PPaaS vendor through ad-hoc multicloud cost calculation and correctness-preserving, process cost reduction proposals.
•Cost-aware process modeling in multiclouds (platform perspective).•Interaction between cloud process platform and their users (user perspective).•Process modeling in multiclouds formalized as cost-efficient placement problem.•Optimal solution of CEPP and practically applicable local search heuristic.•Correctness checks for security-aware decomposition and improvements of processes.•Prototype for case studies evaluating platform and user perspectives.
Purpose: This investigation is based on the theoretical analysis of the application of neural networks to the design and manage supply chains, along with an empirical approach, this investigation its ...developed with the prediction of the level of integration in the supply chain through neural networks. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology designed and used for the processing of data was the instruction of a neural network wich is used to predict the level of integration in a supply chain. This type of predictive application appears in the literature reviewed on supply chains. This analysis was carried out in a comparative way with the heterogeneous and homogeneous weights of the neuron training. Findings: The main results of this research focus on predicting the level of integration in the supply chain from the neoronal network. This provides a coached neuron that can be applied in other studies and, therefore, predict the outcome. On the other hand, it is shown that if the weights of the integration level variables are not homogeneous, the procedure presents different results depending on the context in which it is developed. Research limitations/implications: Among the limitations of the implementation of neural networks it should be noted, the necessary adaptation to the characteristics of the supply chains and the areas of performance of the business organizations under study, in the framework of activities productive or service itself, in addition to analyzing its corporate purpose in relation to the satisfaction of certain needs of the target markets. Originality/value: The literature shows multiple theoretical sources that refer to studies of neural networks in supply chains, observing the opportunity to apply this technique to predict the level of integration due to its benefits for decision making. The originality of this scientific work lies in the possibility of comparing the historical data of the level of integration and those predicted as a result of the coaching of the neuron with the weights of the heterogeneous and homogeneous variables.
The study analyzes the dynamics of the development of integration processes. It is determined that the current stage of development is characterized by a change in the structure of the World Trade in ...favor of services and innovative products; by dynamic growth of trade in intermediate goods and services within global value chains. Trade integration covers a much broader network of participants, including bilateral, multilateral and interregional initiatives. The regional trade agreements (WTO-extra, WTO-plus) are being deepened and expanded. It is determined that the most common form of integration processes is the establishment of the Free Trade Zones, in particular on the basis of bilateral initiatives. Based on this, the bilateral trade relations between the post-Soviet countries and their trading partners (Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, China) were analyzed. The index of trade complementarity was calculated and analyzed in order to identify the compliance of the export structure of the post-Soviet countries with the general structure of imports of these trading partners for high-tech product groups, in particular: machines and apparatuses for soldering and welding (code 8515 according to UKTZED (Ukrainian Commodity Coding System)), transmission shafts and bearing housings (code 8483), machines and mechanisms for harvesting and threshing crops (code 8433), spare parts and aggregates for metalworking equipment (code 8466), pumps for liquids (code 8413), burners for solid fuel or gas (code 8416), equipment for filtering and cleaning liquids and gases (code 8421), woodworking machines (code 8465), spare parts for motor vehicles (code 8708), electrical transformers (code 8504)). The geographical vectors of strengthening bilateral trade in the studied countries are substantiated based on the assessment of the calculated trade complementarity index. It was proposed to use the world experience based on certain key promising areas of international trade development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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